I***i
发帖数: 14557 | 1 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h0bz9vyVIxTgO
New family of spiders found in Oregon cave
By By JEFF BARNARD, AP Environmental Writer
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Amateur cave explorers have found a new family of
spiders in the Siskiyou Mountains of Southern Oregon, and scientists have
dubbed it Trogloraptor — Latin for cave robber — for their fearsome front
claws.
The spelunkers sent specimens to the California Academy of Sciences in San
Francisco, which has the West Coast's largest collection of spiders.
Entomologists there say the spider — reddish brown and the size of a half
dollar — evolved so distinctly that it requires its own taxonomic family —
the first new spider family found in North America since the 1870s.
"It took us a long time to figure out what it wasn't," said Charles Griswold
, curator of arachnids at the academy. "Even longer to figure out what it is
. We used anatomy. We used DNA to understand its evolutionary place. Then we
consulted other experts all over the world about what this was. They all
concurred with our opinion that this was something completely new to science
."
"It's a good example of how science works — professional and citizen
scientists share information," he added.
The discovery is described in the Friday online edition of the journal
ZooKeys.
Jonathan Coddington, curator of arachnids at the Smithsonian Institution and
associate director for science at the National Museum of Natural History,
agreed that the spiders represent a family never seen before.
"This is really a distinct event," he said. "To walk out in the woods and
find an example of an ancient lineage that no one has ever seen before is
special."
Norman I. Platnick, curator emeritus of spiders at the American Museum of
Natural History, said the discovery was as exciting to spider scientists as
the discovery of a new dinosaur to paleontologists.
"Because it belongs to one of the more primitive groups of true spiders, it
has the potential to change many of our current ideas about the early
evolution of spiders," he said. "But it is better than a fossil, because we
can study the entire organism, along with its behavior and physiology, not
just those aspects that happen to have been fossilized."
Coddington said caves tend to keep primitive species from evolving, because
they are sheltered from climatic and other changes.
"Once you figure out a lifestyle, you can just do it for millions of years,"
he said.
The Oregon spider's species name — marchingtoni — honors Deschutes County
sheriff's Deputy Neil Marchington, who was on the first Western Cave
Conservancy expedition in 2010 to inventory the critters in a cave on
private land outside Grants Pass. A year later he led academy scientists to
the site to collect live specimens.
"A lot of times, caves are very unique ecosystems, and what we find in there
can be very special," said Marchington from the jail in Bend where he works
. "At other times, they can be completely normal."
He said about a dozen of them collected bugs from the walls and ceiling of
the cave and put them in vials of preservative, then sent them down to the
academy.
"We don't know exactly how they work yet," Griswold said of the spiders. "We
've seen these spiders alive. But we haven't seen them eat anything yet.
They are very shy.
"They make a little web, but hang under this web. They hang some of their
legs out in space. This is all in the dark in a cave. We think the legs are
stretched out waiting for something to come by, like a fly, and when it hits
the legs, the claws may just snap shut."
Though scientists built a small artificial cave for the spiders in their lab
, the spiders would not eat any of the insects, and died.
Griswold said new families of spiders are described around the world every
20 years or so, but the last ones to be found in North America date to the
1870s, when two families of desert spiders were found in Southern California
, Arizona and Mexico, and another was found in the Appalachian Mountains.
After the spiders were found in the Oregon cave, scientists from San Diego
State University went looking in the redwoods of Northern California, and
found a spider in the same family, but a new species, living in underground
cavities beneath boulders and logs, Griswold said. | I***i
发帖数: 14557 | | i*****s
发帖数: 15215 | 3 赞！这最后一段有启发，我们都只看到自己想看的，真相即使明摆着，也可能视而不见。
After the spiders were found in the Oregon cave, scientists from San Diego
State University went looking in the redwoods of Northern California, and
found a spider in the same family, but a new species, living in underground
cavities beneath boulders and logs, Griswold said. | f*******e
发帖数: 8974 | 4 "This is really a distinct event," he said. "To walk out in the woods and
find an example of an ancient lineage that no one has ever seen before is
special."
这个说法貌似在哪儿看到过 | I***i
发帖数: 14557 | 5 可能是因为很多重要的发现都是这样得出来的
【在 f*******e 的大作中提到】
: "This is really a distinct event," he said. "To walk out in the woods and
: find an example of an ancient lineage that no one has ever seen before is
: special."
: 这个说法貌似在哪儿看到过
| b********s
发帖数: 1118 | 6 美国发现新蜘蛛科 居于洞穴顶前螯强悍性情凶猛
一群业余洞穴探险爱好者者最近在美国俄勒冈州的洞穴中发现一个新蜘蛛科。
这些爱好者把收集的蜘蛛样本送到位于旧金山的加利福尼亚科学院。昆虫学家和蜘
蛛学家发现，这种蜘蛛进化独特，在生物学上，不仅仅代表一个属或一个种，而是应当
单成一科。
这种蜘蛛悬挂于洞穴内顶部的网下，展开腿，大约4厘米宽。因这种蜘蛛长有令人
生畏的前螯，科学家们给它起名“洞穴猛禽”。
这项新发现结果发表于最新出版的生物学期刊《Zookeys》。研究人员说，蜘蛛长
有强悍前螯，“显示它们凶猛、擅于捕食”。
科学院专家查尔斯·格里斯沃尔德说，这种蜘蛛所织的蛛网粗糙，尚不知道它们如
何捕食或以什么为食。
研究人员提示，即使是种类丰富的昆虫和蜘蛛，发现一个新生物科也是罕见之事。
他们认为，这是自1870年北美洲发现的第一个新蜘蛛科。（新华社电） | I***i
发帖数: 14557 | 7 re
见。
underground
【在 i*****s 的大作中提到】
: 赞！这最后一段有启发，我们都只看到自己想看的，真相即使明摆着，也可能视而不见。
: After the spiders were found in the Oregon cave, scientists from San Diego
: State University went looking in the redwoods of Northern California, and
: found a spider in the same family, but a new species, living in underground
: cavities beneath boulders and logs, Griswold said.
| i*****s
发帖数: 15215 | 8 这个新闻意义不小，等下我去补个mark
【在 I***i 的大作中提到】
: re
:
: 见。
: underground
|
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